You've been dreaming
by Dutch FF-lover
Summary: You've been dreaming just one dream... Gaston is about to discover that you don't want every dream to come true


**You've been dreaming just one dream, nearly all your life…**

_A/N First of all, the characters are still not mine. They belong to Disney. _

_Stephen Sondheim wrote a fabulous musical once about what happens if you get what you wish. We learn from that musical that getting your wish fulfilled isn't always what you want. And so we will learn from this little one-shot._

_I got this idea while chatting with Shortstef. Without her I would never got this idea. So, many thanks to her. I want to dedicate this story to Nikkibelle18. Have fun, Nik, I know you'll love this story! (Also to the other readers… have fun!)  
_

Gaston came home after a hard day of hunting in the woods. He had been able to shoot a deer and three boars. Not an unsuccessful day. He opened the door of his large house and the wonderful smell of roasted beef hit him immediately. "Honey, I'm home!"

"Kitchen," he heard a voice say.

He walked into the kitchen and saw his wife busy with the kids. She was carrying his youngest child on her arm while she stirred in a pan of gravy with the other. At her feet was one of the other kids playing with Tintin, the oldest dog in the Soleil Residence. A lovely picture.

"And how is my little wife today?" He said as he kissed her on her cheek. She still looked good. Although her figure wasn't what it was after bearing so many children, but still good enough. The bags under her eyes didn't do much for her looks. She should spend less time reading and more time on looking perfect for him.

Belle wiped the loose hanging hair out of her face. It was hot outside and now she was standing at a burning stove. She looked her husband in the eye and then to the floor. "It would have been a lot better, if my dear husband remembered to take off his muddy boots before entering! I scrubbed the floors all morning!" she said mockingly.

Gaston quickly took off his boots and placed them just outside the house. "Sorry dear, the floors look great."

"They did look great…" Belle muttered. "Can you take little Richard?" she said as she handed him over the baby she was carrying in her arms. "I need to turn the beef."

Gaston held the little baby in his arms a bit clumsily, not knowing exactly how to hold him without hurting the kid. He wanted to stay away from the education of his sons til they were old enough to join him on his hunting trips. Before that, the children were Belle's business. The oldest was almost ready to go with him to the woods. He couldn't wait to give his oldest his first rifle.

"And where have you been exactly?" Belle asked as she took the child out of Gaston's arms again.

Gaston sat down at the kitchen table and looked at his wife. That was a very weird question, although, Belle had asked weirder things since they were married eight years ago. "In the woods, as usual. I'm a hunter, remember?" he answered her. "Can you give me a glass of wine, dear? I'm thirsty."

"You've been to the tavern too. I can still smell the beer," Belle said. She hated it when he came home with that boozy air around him.

"I always go to the tavern at the end of the day!" Gaston said offended. What was wrong with her? She was really suspicious today.

"I heard they've got a new maid at the tavern."

"Have they?" He said innocently. So that was it. During The last few years Belle had become jealous whenever a new woman had come to town or when one of the younger girls became of age. He had considered that a normal reaction. He still got the attention from the women, even though he was now a married man.

"Yes, she started today. I heard it at the market," Belle said as she tried to look her husband in the eye. She looked for a clue or something. "What's her name?"

Okay, better admit he had seen the girl. "Babette." He was wise enough to leave out the details about the stunning appearance of this new hot maid. Beautiful-- with every body part still in the right place.

"Is she pretty?"

"I haven't really noticed."

"That means yes," Belle sighed.

Gaston walked back into the livingroom and started a fire in the fireplace. He sat down in the big chair, but he had to remove a little toy before he actually could sit down. He thought his life over, he finally had it all. Belle was in the kitchen cooking his dinner and she was a good mother to his children. It surprised him that she was able to perform his most desired wish and only bear sons. His strapping boys. He heard Belle opening the door to the garden. "Gaston Jr., Maurice, Pierre, Jean, Luc, Armand, Raoul! Go wash up! It's almost dinnertime," she yelled. He smiled, everything he wanted had come true… In the kitchen he heard the feet of his sons barge into the house.

"Mom! We caught a frog!"

"Show it to your father."

"Daddy's home!"

His seven oldest sons came running into the livingroom, all excited. Everyone was shouting and yelling. One of the kids climbed on top of the chair Gaston was sitting in and jumped on his back.

One of the kids pushed a frog almost up his father's nose. "Dad, look at this!"

"Not now," Gaston said as he removed the kid that was hanging onto his back. He just wanted some peace and quiet when he got home from a day of hard work. But with nine children he could forget that! There was always noise in the house and no way to withdraw from the chaos.

"Dad! We wanna play!" one shouted, while jumping up and down.

"Go play with the dogs!"

"We already did that today!"

The oldest, Gaston Jr., who looked the most like his father sat down on the couch looked at him and asked "Dad, what did you kill today?" The other kids immediately sat down next to their brother and looked at the head of the family. Hopefully father had another exciting story to tell about how he killed a ferocious animal.

"A deer and three boars and that was not so easy, I went into…" Gaston started his story.

"Dinner!" Belle said as she came in the room carrying a hot dish.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAH," all the kids yelled, running to the table and leaving their father alone.

Gaston stood up and sat down at the table. He didn't like to be interrupted when he told a story about one of his hunting successes. "Shall I continue the story of the deer?" he said annoyed. All his sons nodded eagerly. "Well… I shot that deer with just one bullet, and the blood spat out…"

"We don't talk about blood or gore at dinner," Belle said as she gave her husband the carving knives. She began to fill the plates of her family with food. "Don't you think you should ask how my day was?"

Gaston rolled his eyes. "How was your day, dear?"

"How nice of you to ask. And so spontaneous," Belle said sneering. "I went to the doctor today about feeling so nauseous the past few days."

"And…" Gaston said to speed up the conversation. He had been worried about Belle's nausea.

"If you didn't interrupt me I could tell you," Belle answered while she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "You knocked me up again. That's number ten."

"What? You're pregnant? That's wonderful news, dear," Gaston said excited. He stood up from his chair and walked to the other side of the table. He bent down to kiss Belle, but she turned her head away.

"Not in front of the kids!"

Gaston spent the rest of dinner looking at his wife. She was pregnant again! No doubt he would get another son! He would be the envy of the entire town. Ten sons! No other man in the village had accomplished that!

Belle began to collect the empty plates and piled them up with the pans on the table. "Okay, off to bed."

Immediately all the children began to talk at the same time. "I don't want to!" one said loudly, with an angry look on his face and his arms crossed, determined not to leave the table. His brothers followed Pierre's example and did the same.

"Don't whine, everyone goes to bed. Now."

"You and dad aren't going to bed now," Raoul pouted.

"Your dad and I are grown-ups." Belle placed the youngest child in the arms of the oldest. "Here, take your brother with you."

"Dad, may we stay up late?"

"Sure," Gaston said without really noticing what was going on. He was still too busy thinking about his new son.

Belle stared at her husband and shook her head. "I said 'no'." She turned to the kids again. "Everyone go upstairs, I'll be there in ten minutes and I want everyone in their pajamas and properly washed."

"Aaaww, Mom!"

"Dad said we could stay up!"

"Well, your dad says lots of things that make no sense. For example, he promises to bring me flowers more often, but he never does. Now, I'm not going to say this again. Go to bed!"

Reluctantly the children left the living room and went upstairs to do as their mother told them. Belle herself also left the room and went into the kitchen, carrying the big pile of plates.

"I'm so happy that we're having another child again," Gaston said as he placed his arms around her waist.

She looked up to her man and smirked. "Another kid? Another mouth to feed, you mean."

He let go of her, apparently she wasn't in the mood for any kind of affection. "I hunt enough for us to eat."

"Can you shoot some clothes and shoes too?" Belle said as she filled a bucket with water to do the dishes.

"Uhm… No."

"I need money to buy Luc and Armand new shoes. They grow so fast."

"Money doesn't grow on trees, Belle."

"Oh I know. If we had money I could hire a nanny, or a maid, or if I had daughters they could help me. But no, you can only give me sons!"

"What's wrong with having sons? Other wives would be thrilled to get as many sons as you do."

Belle sighed. "I'm putting the boys to bed."

"Here," she said when she came downstairs again. Belle gave Gaston another glass of wine. She poured one for herself as well, before she sat down on the couch with a book. She sighed. It had been another hard long day. It wasn't easy to take care of nine little boys and make sure the house stayed tidy.

"Honey, massage my feet, will you?"

_No chance of reading tonight_, Belle thought. How could she ever have thought that she would be able to read after she was married? "Oh, all right, come here."

Gaston stood up from his chair and sat down on the couch next to Belle. He carefully placed his feet in her lap. "I love it when you massage my feet."

"You really should let the doctor look at that corn of yours. It doesn't look good."

"Don't talk, dear. Why don't we go upstairs… I know a few other places that could use a massage."

Before Belle could say anything about Gaston's proposal, they were interrupted by a voice that came from upstairs. "DAD!!! There's a monster in the closet!!!"

Belle let go of her husband's feet and pushed them off of her legs. "You'd better go. Before you know it, they'll all be standing downstairs," she said as she picked up her book again.

Gaston opened the door of the nursery. The light of the hall shone on the faces of the boys, all together in the big bed. "Well, what is it?"

"There is a monster in the closet."

"And…"

"We're scared."

"My sons are NOT scared OF ANYTHING and they don't believe in monsters in closets. There is no such thing." He said firmly. He barged over to the closet and opened the doors. "See, no monster."

"Thanks, daddy."

"Dad, will you read us a story?" one of the boys said when Gaston was ready to close the door of the nursery.

He turned around, astonished. He looked at the son who had dared to ask him to read a story. "A story? Who do you think I am? Your mother?"

Gaston went downstairs again, but the livingroom was empty. "Honey?" No answer. Her book was also gone, she probably went to bed already. Fine with him, there was no better way to spend a cold night than in the bed with your wife.

He quickly undressed the minute he entered the bedroom. He crawled into bed next to Belle. She was all warm and soft. "Oh, Belle…" he whispered as he began to stroke her hair.

"Not tonight, Gaston. I have a headache," Belle said without looking at him. She had a lot of headaches the past few days. He really should talk to her about her wifely duties tomorrow. _Hmm…_ he was in the mood now, he didn't want to wait til Belle was ready. That could take years. He placed his hands under the blankets and carressed her hips. After a few seconds she turned to him. "I said 'no', Gaston. If you keep on going like this I'll spend the rest of the night in the guestroom."

_This is not how I pictured my marriage to be. _

Gaston woke up, totally startled. He grabbed the glass of water on the nightstand next to the bed and quickly drank it all. He looked to the spot next to him in the bed. Thank God, it was empty. He looked around the room, he was back in his own bedroom at his parents house. He sighed. It had been a terrible nightmare. Gaston stood up from the bed and walked over to the mirror. He looked at himself and thought:

_Maybe I should reconsider this marriage-thing_.


End file.
